Donald Trump has hit back at critics who disapproved of a phone call he shared with the Taiwanese President which strayed from decades of diplomatic tradition.

The president-elect implied the hypocrisy of American officials who have ignored the island province for years while allowing it to buy billions of dollars worth of weapons from the US. as he defended taking the call from President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

Trump happily accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday despite America’s shunning of its government for 37 years.

Since 1979, the US has sided with Beijing in its view that Taiwan is part of China and not, as it would have it, an independent island nation.

After receiving a barrage of criticism for the call, Trump defended it, writing on Twitter: ‘Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call,’ he wrote on Twitter.

Donald Trump strayed from diplomatic tradition on Friday with a phone call with the Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen (right) – a move which prompted heavy criticism and threatened to sour the US’s relationship with Taiwan’s enemy China

The president-elect defended the phone call in a Twitter post on Friday night hours after announcing it in a separate message to followers

Hours earlier he confirmed his conversation with President Tsai who he said called him to congratulate him on his election win.

‘The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!’ he wrote.

The pair’s conversation on Friday is the first time a US president or president-elect has spoken with Taiwan’s leader directly since Jimmy Carter abandoned diplomatic relations with its government in 1979.

The US sided officially with China, which fosters a fragile relationship with the self-governing island, at the time and has continued to support its position that Taiwan is part of China and not an independent nation.

Trump’s conversation with its leader on Friday is likely to anger the Chinese government which fosters a fragile relationship with Taiwan, a self-governing island which sits off its south coast.